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I'm off to bed. My brain is turning out its lights one by one and soon it will be completely dark and I'll fall asleep at the computer... LOL
Good night, Treeforters!
Well my Giantslayers game is going off target...I mean I like the idea NO ONE wants to run into the fortified Frost Giant village...but it also seems our Ranger has a death wish because SHE decided to fight a Frost Giant Patrol by her self...and died. Fortunately since the witch memorized Reincarnate, (and the DM didn't feel like using alternate races much), she only because a full elf from her previous half elf self.
Whoosh...
Also the witch and my paladin are having discussions about sending him into battle without all his armor on... Thank goodness I can roll well AND a surprise crit! (Thought I think the DM did the math wrong in my favor...but I'm not calling it!)
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Night.
Or a coming foredawn here, actually...
Morning!
A very early morning
Time to begin another week.
This one will be interesting. I’ll need to fix my exhaust system. That might take a bit of Time.
Olympic Sculpture park, they were just starting this when we left but it has a really cool DNA strand foot bridge and is right on the sound.
Magnuson park, has s*!%loads of free range blackberries and fins of decommissioned subs arranged as if they were whale pods and each one has the name of the sub it came from and a corresponding whale name.
Gasworks park, it's name alone! Kinda cool but more of a summer destination when there's concerts and hippie festivals.
Seattle Center is always cool, I always liked waiting for my wife to get off work there (she worked a block away) especially by the international fountain which jets water 60 in the air to music.
I'll keep at it! Thanks for the memory refresher!
I normally don't quote myself but I didn't know if you saw this and I know you're a big naval history fan so I thought I'd underline Magnuson park.
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Warhorns 2018
So last week I went to Warhorns Festival, a metal festival primarily focussing on the black, death and most significantly folk. I’ve been a few times ever since they held it in an underground club in York.
This year they’d moved to a new venue, a Power Station! Not knowing what exactly to expect, I was pleasantly surprised to find it was a social club, with a decent stage, dance floor, separate dining area & plenty of room to sit down. Attendance was less than 500.
Sellsword – I’d seen them before & they have improved every time I’ve heard them. Awesome Power Metal with folk influences. Amazing stage presence and some of the best (clean) live vocals I’ve heard. Possibly the best of the weekend – I’d recommend everyone checks them out, at least for Hadrada, Merchant of Menace & Ashes.
Morpheus Rising – Somehow had to follow Sellsword, with the guitarist getting very upset with the sound quality it was not going to happen. A good gothic rock band, they were heavily backed by the organisers. They had a stage intruder, which was removed by security.
Wind Rose – Very theatrical, this band from Italy at first seemed like the stereotypical Italian power-metal. However with a great sense of relief they incorporated a few folk elements (& Tolkien inspired songs) to make the music more interesting. The lead-singer has a brilliant dwarf look down, with massive pauldrons and beard.
Friday – Well this was going to be a longer one, and would anyone be able to beat Sellsword as the best?
Scars of Sense – Sludgy doom-death with an excellent counterpoint of violins, very good. I’ll have to look them up a bit more. Although this did mark the problem of violins & backing/ female vocals were turned down all weekend.
Hex Morbidity – Great presence, black metal with a cello which worked really well. Very nice band.
Fjords – Doom metal, reminiscent of Katatonia or Opeth, just my jam. I think the sound system or set-length didn’t help them. Pretty good, but I’m sure next time I see them they’ll be excellent.
Petrichor – Now their appearance was at odds with the music, doom metal but they seemed a trifle camp with very silly make-up. However another good band.
Isarnos – Now these had decent problems with the more delicate instruments being overshadowed. Though with a fiddle, lute, pipe, hurdy-gurdy they are the definition of interesting Folk-Metal. Very, good band, with poor sounds quality.
Tor Marrock – These were excellent, a definite highlight amongst a host of other great bands. A 3-piece act, wearing masks they performed a stark doom set that was clever and enthralling.
Na Cruithne – An Irish folk metal band, with heavy roots and a good presence. They got the drunk crowd going but created a rod for their own back with the ‘Eggborough’ chants (the name of the power station. The first real jig-pit of the festival.
The Prophecy – These felt a bit out of place, a gothic or doomy band – early Paradise Lost? Amazing, emotional vocals.
Sojourner – Great band, some magnificent vocals and flute that worked really well with the heavier black metal influences.
Saturday – Up early to drive over again, it was to be another 12+ hour day of music. However there hadn’t been 1 band that I’d leave the room for, or just miss.
Yylva – Unfortunately, due to a medical emergency most of the group didn’t turn up…. It was just a solo harpist, who sat down next to us as she waited to perform. Very friendly. She had an amazing voice and the harp was amazing creating a haunting soundscape, even if there were a couple of times when it’d been a benefit to have more performers.
Opus Mortis – Heavy, thrashy with a cool 70’s horror feel to the music. They had some cool passages and songs.
Atorc – Excellent Celtic metal. With really catchy songs, great guitars. They are really excellent.
Ravenage – Glyn the organisers band, with the keyboardist from Alestorm. They perform various styles of folk-metal, from the hilariously catchy “More Beer” to the anthemic “This is Yorkshire”, whilst other songs are a trifle harder & less folk-inspired. A really good act and glad that they performed again this year.
Wyrdstaef – Their first ever performance and what a stage show! Garbed in full make-up and surrounded by candles, ceremonial items, rams skulls and more, they certainly made an impression! Then the music started and it was glorious, an amazing array of sound-effects combined with the music to create an atmospheric soundscape. During one song on of the guitarists stared out into the audience for the whole 5 minute song without blinking.
As for the music itself, it’s a folk-black metal with tagelharpa, tabors and you can get lost in the imaginative audio-vista. Reminiscent of Fen, but with some of the theatrics of Ghost and other Black Metal acts. The only problem was they seemed to finish early, I could have listened to them for another hour, or 2.
Now this was when the festival got particularly annoying, as with many festivals they were falling behind in stage times – which can be alright, Soujourner finished 45 minutes late the night before. However now, rather than the 60 minutes that we were meant to wait for the next act, it was 90 before someone came onto stage. Then they started warming-up just banging the drum, this lasted over half an hour as the crowd gathered to hear the next band perform. As would be the case with drunken people, some started heckling the band as they bashed away at the drum.
This brought the booker out, who told us that we had no respect & that these were the headliners and he’d personally throw out the next person who heckled. Which really annoyed me, no announcement of running late, no apologies or even just telling us what was going on.
So only 90 minutes late the next scheduled band took to stage, over the next 4 acts they’d make up a bit of time – but the festival magic was gone.
Aephamemer – Interesting French, twiddly technical black metal with a distinct Gallic feel. The imagery was pretty cool too.
Dark Forest – Arthurian Power Metal, pretty alright.
Obscurity – Generic, the audience seemed to love it. They got half of them onstage for the last song.
Kalmah – The headliners, well the sound was appalling. The kick-drum sounded like a wet balloon & the speakers had a constant hum.
Overall highlights and best bands: Sellsword, Wyrdstaef, Tor Marrock, then there’s a few I’d like to hear more of like: Hex Morbidity, Scars of Sense, Atorc, Isarnos & Fjords.
I normally don't quote myself but I didn't know if you saw this and I know you're a big naval history fan so I thought I'd underline Magnuson park.Olympic Sculpture park, they were just starting this when we left but it has a really cool DNA strand foot bridge and is right on the sound.
Magnuson park, has s*!%loads of free range blackberries and fins of decommissioned subs arranged as if they were whale pods and each one has the name of the sub it came from and a corresponding whale name.
Gasworks park, it's name alone! Kinda cool but more of a summer destination when there's concerts and hippie festivals.
Seattle Center is always cool, I always liked waiting for my wife to get off work there (she worked a block away) especially by the international fountain which jets water 60 in the air to music.
I'll keep at it! Thanks for the memory refresher!
Thanks! I did see it, and it ‘s a solid maybe if I get any extra time out yhere
Warhorns 2018
So last week I went to Warhorns Festival, a metal festival primarily focussing on the black, death and most significantly folk. I’ve been a few times ever since they held it in an underground club in York.
This year they’d moved to a new venue, a Power Station! Not knowing what exactly to expect, I was pleasantly surprised to find it was a social club, with a decent stage, dance floor, separate dining area & plenty of room to sit down. Attendance was less than 500.
** spoiler omitted **
Friday – Well this was going to be a longer one, and would anyone be able to beat Sellsword as the best?
** spoiler omitted **...
Sounds like a heck of a festival !
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Thursday I’m headed off to a theater screening of Phantasm, with a Q&A with the director afterwards. The Greater DC area has such wonderful events!
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(Stuff about Opiods)
Ugh,
I was put on Hydrocodone both times I had surgery (To remove a tumor on my kidney, and then to repair a hernia they gave me during surgery) :PBoth times they gave me enough pills for a couple of weeks, and I took myself off of them after 2 days. Went to Tylenol and Advil. Just did not like the way my brain wouldn't work on that stuff. Felt like my brain was swimming through jell-O. :P
Still have them sitting on my shelf. Not planning to use them. I'm just a packrat. And I hate throwing away things I paid good money for. :P -_-
Sounds like an interesting festival!
(Not sure my sensitive ears would have appreciated it as much as you did, but I liked the reviews) :)
Have fun Monkey! Enjoy that go-out-and-do-stuff stuff! :)
(Basically, sounds like your all weekends were much more exciting than mine. Even if there was stuff out there I wanted to go do locally, it was raining ALL weekend here. MAde me not want to get out of bed! So I slept in both Sat and Sun mornings!) ;P
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Indeed! You have to!So jealous. Gonna tear it up with you guys someday.Don’t forget FHDM, me and Brianna will be up to NYC the weekend of the 27th. We’d love to hang with you
I’m iffy. That is going to be right around when we close on the house. Keep me in the loop though, in case I am free.
February is already on my calendar :)
Indeed! You have to!So jealous. Gonna tear it up with you guys someday.Don’t forget FHDM, me and Brianna will be up to NYC the weekend of the 27th. We’d love to hang with youI’m iffy. That is going to be right around when we close on the house. Keep me in the loop though, in case I am free.
February is already on my calendar :)
I hope you can join.
Thursday I’m headed off to a theater screening of Phantasm, with a Q&A with the director afterwards. The Greater DC area has such wonderful events!
i loved the sequel.
Thursday I’m headed off to a theater screening of Phantasm, with a Q&A with the director afterwards. The Greater DC area has such wonderful events!i loved the sequel.
Weird movies, but very formative in my early life. Horror at its oddest.
La la la. At the Stairmaster again....
Amazing the difference a new pair of sneakers can make for musculoskeletal pain
Of course my last pair was sad. Like ten years old, soles falling off sad.
So happy to finally get a few extra shekels
Of course now I have to by a new car exhaust
Ah well, time to sell a few more APs
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Oi,
I never can seem to get ahead.
Yet, Ive been blessed, (it's my belief system) ;) that while I've never had EXTRA money, like,... ever. >_<
I also have never dug us so far into a hole that I couldn't dig our way out of again.
Seems like every time I actually (thought) I have extra money, That was when an emergency expense occurred. (Car repair, illness, whatever) So I choose to believe that I am being taken care of. :)
Although, Sometimes I DO feel like Tevya from "Fiddler on the Roof"
"Would it be such an awful thing, if I were a wealthy Man?!?" ;)
Oi,
I never can seem to get ahead.
Yet, Ive been blessed, (it's my belief system) ;) that while I've never had EXTRA money, like,... ever. >_<
I also have never dug us so far into a hole that I couldn't dig our way out of again.Seems like every time I actually (thought) I have extra money, That was when an emergency expense occurred. (Car repair, illness, whatever) So I choose to believe that I am being taken care of. :)
Although, Sometimes I DO feel like Tevya from "Fiddler on the Roof"
"Would it be such an awful thing, if I were a wealthy Man?!?" ;)
I know that feel.
So, my pain doctor put me on Lyrica. It's helped my chronic pain tremendously, but the drawbacks out weigh that I think. Here are the things I'm experiencing.
Dizziness, rapid heartbeat, blurred vision, double vision, lack of coordination, confusion, and problems with memory. I'm calling the doctor again tomorrow. He hasn't returned my call from Monday. I'm grumpy.
Happy birthday, John! Here's to many more blurred years! LOL
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Oi,
I never can seem to get ahead.
Yet, Ive been blessed, (it's my belief system) ;) that while I've never had EXTRA money, like,... ever. >_<
I also have never dug us so far into a hole that I couldn't dig our way out of again.Seems like every time I actually (thought) I have extra money, That was when an emergency expense occurred. (Car repair, illness, whatever) So I choose to believe that I am being taken care of. :)
Although, Sometimes I DO feel like Tevya from "Fiddler on the Roof"
"Would it be such an awful thing, if I were a wealthy Man?!?" ;)
Indeed. I try to remember that had I not just gotten a promotion, this new exhaust would be a much more serious situation. In the words of Mick Jagger
You can’t always get what you want
But if you try sometime
You just might find
You get what you need
A funny story:
Years back, there was this quirky little new age/Wicca/crystal store in my town. I used to shop for rocks there, and to browse the cool book selection they had. One day as I was checking out, the cashier asked me if she could look at my palms. I complied and she said , “It’s very strange, I see that you are very artistic, but there’s this weird line across it like you quit art altogether. Which is scary true. She then told me I had something else called the ‘magic Ms’. She explained it like this: “you’ll never be wealthy, but you will always have enough money to get by” I laughed and told her I was good with that.
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But yeah, I wouldn’t mind trying wealthy for a bit. Or maybe retirement fund. That would be nice.
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But, still I can’t complain. I’m healthy, employed , with a pretty stable brain chemistry and good future prospects. I even got asked out on a date yesterday!
Of course, I now need to rent a tux, but hey, that’s adulting for you
Stairmaster
Stairmaster
My mechanical mistress
Up down up down
An hour of leg stress
Sun still a-sleeping
Moon riding high
Just ten more minutes
I groan and I sigh
About to clock out. Good night, everybody.
Happy birthday and sleep well!
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Today's my Birthday! I'm fifty- ... something. Well, whatever. The years seem to blur together after fifty.
Yes.
yes they do.Happy 50-something! Enjoy many more! :)
Oi,
I never can seem to get ahead.
Yet, Ive been blessed, (it's my belief system) ;) that while I've never had EXTRA money, like,... ever. >_<
I also have never dug us so far into a hole that I couldn't dig our way out of again.Seems like every time I actually (thought) I have extra money, That was when an emergency expense occurred. (Car repair, illness, whatever) So I choose to believe that I am being taken care of. :)
Although, Sometimes I DO feel like Tevya from "Fiddler on the Roof"
"Would it be such an awful thing, if I were a wealthy Man?!?" ;)
Indeed. I try to remember that had I not just gotten a promotion, this new exhaust would be a much more serious situation. In the words of Mick Jagger
You can’t always get what you want
But if you try sometime
You just might find
You get what you need
Indeed sir!
I laugh when people say "Money can't buy happiness"
That MIGHT be true, but I say,
1-You dont know how to shop,... or
2- It at least allows you to choose your own form of misery!
:P
Seriously, I can always complain (So I am told) But why?
No one listens, so whats the point? ;P
And like you said, I'm employed, I'm (mostly) healthy, and I have a wife who loves me enough to put up with me and my nonsense.
Not too bad I'd say. :)
But, still I can’t complain. I’m healthy, employed , with a pretty stable brain chemistry and good future prospects. I even got asked out on a date yesterday!
Cool! Have fun! ;)
There is a reason the TUX has not changed (much) in the last 200 years.
It makes anyone look good! ;)
(Even me. I have pics to prove it!) ;P
Enjoy adulting with your tux! :D
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Ooh. What kind of fancy event, Patrick?
Some formal ball. I’m being asked as s friend, but it’s still pretty cool
I would feel so out of place in something like that. I would have long before my anxiety issues arose.
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That kinda stuff doesn’t bother me. I might get bored, but I can always figure out something fun to do. Besides, I need a tux pic
When I would go with my wife to her PoliSci functions in college I knew no one and I suck at small talk. I'd just take my drink and follow her around. She was the anchor that held me in check and that was nearly 30 years ago. Though we're not together anymore we're still best friends and she still has to go with me to some places like shopping or to the movies. She knows I could freak out at any moment and hurt someone or myself. I've always tried to be a peaceful negotiator instead of a fighter but that veneer slides off too easily now.
Sorry to hijack your conversation, Patrick. I agree, you do need a tux pic. All mine were lost in a move somehow, so there are no pics or our wedding. So anyone who says they've seen me in a tux can't prove it...LOL
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I've never worn a tux, not even to my own wedding.
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Apathy is my shield. Hostility is my sword. I fear no-one.
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Fear is the little death, the mind killer
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Fear is mind killer, but hatred is just a dick.
Also today I'm happy to report my dog likes his new fenced-in yard. At least..in the sense he didn't try to escape from it.
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Should by fortune's hand I win a lottery the house I build will have a really large yard with at LEAST 6 foot high fence reinforced at the bottom so my dogs couldn't get out. Rosie has made a little progress on doing so in the tiny pen out back, so I propped a concrete block on the other side of it. She's not the brightest light on the string so it hasn't occurred to her to dig elsewhere... LOL
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Today's my Birthday! I'm fifty- ... something. Well, whatever. The years seem to blur together after fifty.Yes.
yes they do.Happy 50-something! Enjoy many more! :)
I wouldn't know. I started backing it down at forty. This year, I'm nine. :-)
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Cal,
If fortunate favored me, I'd buy a house not far from where I live, get a nice fence that that's at least 6,000 square feet and still have room for the house that's probably about 25,000 square feet.
Good morning!
Another day, another beautiful gift from the universe
My car resides with the dealership overnight, as his problems were too extensive for fixing in one day. It’s odd how I feel almost like a beloved pet is at the vets. That car and I have been through a lot together. I bought him in late 2007. He’s old and threadbare, and has none of the remarkable features that technology has innovated over the past 11 years, but he has served me well and faithfully over these past 186,000 miles.
Beautiful day dawns
Endorphins flood my system
I feel so peaceful